Count Binface, a self-described “intergalactic space warrior” with a bin for a head, won 9,455 votes in Thursday’s Clacton by-election, far more than he has ever received at any other election. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who triggered the poll by quitting his seat in July, was comfortably re-elected with 22,239 votes, but faced ridicule from some for failing to turn up at the count.
Binface's reaction
Posting a video to X on Friday morning, Count Binface said: “I can officially say that I am the winning candidate of the candidates who bothered to turn up for the results.
“That’s right, 9,455 actual votes. Just eight weeks ago in Makerfield, I got 95.
“That means I’ve got against Nigel Farage 10,000 per cent more votes than I got against Andy Burnham. What does that tell you?
“Well, it tells you that Nigel, who said that he didn’t want to be humiliated, maybe has been.”
He added: “As for me, I’m over the moon. I’m over your moon. I’m over my moons. And what comes next? Well, we shall see.”
The man behind the bin
Jon Harvey, a comedian from Lewisham, created Count Binface. The 46-year-old father-of-two has worked on shows including Have I Got News For You and the Thick of It. He has been standing in elections since 2017 when he challenged Theresa May’s constituency as his Lord Buckethead character.
But after receiving a copyright complaint from the American film-maker Todd Durham, who created Lord Buckethead for his 1984 science-fiction film Hyperspace, Mr Harvey rebranded as a bin. Count Binface is described as an “intergalactic space warrior, leader of the Recyclons from Sigma IX and part-time politician on Earth”. He has stood in a number of elections, including in Boris Johnson’s former seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip where he claimed to have split the Labour vote and caused the Tory victory.
He also stood against Rishi Sunak in Richmond and Northallerton at the 2024 general election and challenged Andy Burnham in the Makerfield by-election last month. In 2021 and 2024 he ran in the London mayoral elections.
What are his policies?
Binface has a wide-ranging number of manifesto policies. He has vowed to force Thames Water bosses to "take a dip in the Thames to see how they like it", in reference to sewage being pumped into the London river. VAR in football matches should be abolished, he said, and he has promised to "build at least one affordable house".
For Clacton outlined ten key pledges, with many directed against Mr Farage specifically. They included:
- MPs who resign mid-Parliament to be banned from the resulting by-election
- Spending more time in Clacton-on-Sea than in Washington DC, and to champion the area
- Not accepting £5 million gifts from crypto billionaires (on Earth)
His 2024 manifesto for London also included a ban on “loud snacks" in theatres and plans to demolish the Millennium Dome to make way for a nature reserve.
London Bridge would be named after actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Ceefax would be brought back under his plans. Ice-cream and croissant prices should also be capped, he has said.
